15. Creepy Clown Park

(Ballad) *

Part 1

Blasted is the day,

And blasted is the night;

Even though you pray,

Who will bring the light?

1

Now Leer was walking home one night,

Conversing with his friend;

The two kept up their conversation

As they turned 'round the bend

Into a detour crossing through

A field within a park,

Which they could barely comprehend

When evening gets too dark.

And so they stood upon the entrance

Of that foreboding place,

Each wondering with masks of courage

To hide his fear-filled face.

So Ember (that is Leer's good friend)

Observed the park and said,

"I've heard that there's a creepy clown

Who buried someone's head

"Somewhere inside this park about

A month or two ago."

So said the weirdly thoughtful Ember

Before the two would go

Along the creepy path right through

A creepy field at night—

So thought the creepy-storied Leer

Upon so dark a site.

For Leer had heard about the clown

That Ember spoke about;

So when the two moved on their steps

Along the fabled route,

Leer said, "I know. I've heard that, too,

But here is something more

I've heard that even you don't know:

That killer clown would bore

"A hole inside that person's skull

And scoop out all his brains,

Before proceeding to devour

The rest of his remains."

And so the curious Ember said,

"What did he use to bore

His skull? An auger? Or a file?"

Leer, walking as before,

Began to walk a little faster,

Saying, "I'm not too keen

On how he bores a skull right through,

Since I have never seen

"Directly how he's done all that,

But only heard in rumor;

And as to why, I'll just assume

That he's in some bad humor."

Bad humor was the least of it,

If all of that was true,

So thought the creepy-storied Leer

In his expansive purview.

Ember had nothing left to say

Of Leer's tremendous knowledge

Of creepy tales and creepy hearsay

That Leer would not acknowledge.

And so the two tread homeward-bound

Through creepy path and park

In silence, for the night was young,

Still westering the dark

Completely t'wards the Western edge

Of such a far-off ambit, *

Where just a half an hour since

The sun had set upon it.

Now almost all the sky was black

Towards the western edge

Of that far-off horizon where

It levels on a straightedge,

But in the darkness of the park,

Embowered by the trees,

It now took on the creepy cast

Of something on the breeze

That rustles through the dying leaves

Of autumn's fading glory,

And so the weary Ember told

Another creepy story.

He said, "I've heard another clown

Has come into this place,

But this one doesn't wear a mask

Or even have a face.

"He's not a clown that wears the mask

Or makeup of a clown,

But hides the trace of something more

That few have ever known."

"How do you know, then?" Leer now said.

"Have you seen it yourself?"

A smile crept up on Ember's face,

So full of his own self.

And so Leer called off Ember's bluff,

Continuing to walk

A little faster on the path

Towards the other block—

Continuing to walk along

The creepy path at night—

Continuing to walk among

The shadows in the moonlight—

Continuing to share their tales

Of ever-gruesome horrors,

Both adding to the gruesomeness

Of their reported rumors—

Continuing to walk and walk,

Until both boys perceived

That something supernatural

Had both of them deceived.

So Ember looked looked upon his watch

And cried out, "Holy shit,

It's almost nearing midnight now!"

He nearly had a fit.

So Leer now tried to calm his friend

And said, "Don't think about it!

I think we've entered something strange;

On this, I cannot doubt it."

Leer then directed Ember's gaze

Towards the path in front,

Their hopes now drifting far behind,

Their fears now on the forefront.

They saw the path stretch on and on

Into the gloom ahead,

As though there was no end in sight,

Filling them both with dread.

So both boys turned around and saw

That they had walked so far

Beyond the entrance of the park;

It's such a sight bizarre;

They knew not where they are.

2

The two kept looking on in fear

As if the world had gone

So wrong or just moved out of kilter;

Something was going on.

The two looked at each other now,

Both Leer and Ember thinking

Such thoughts as only crazies thought,

Except in silent drinking

Over the cause of something felt

But never truly seen.

The two decided to retrace

The path where they had been

Walking along in foolishness,

So heedless of the dangers

As they conversed on creepypastas **

Surrounding clowns and strangers.

The topic of much stranger clowns

Now popped inside their heads,

As if the ghost of Pennywise ***

Would tear them both to shreds.

If such a monster could exist

Outside of Stephen King,

Were all these killer clowns the henchmen

Of some God-awful thing

Beyond the comprehension of

Mere rational adults,

Accessible through childhood fears

With horrible results?

If clowns were clowns and jokers jokers,

Who was this Pennywise?

Was he the Devil's avatar,

A monster in disguise?

Such horrid thoughts preoccupied

The minds of both these boys,

For something worse than Pennywise

Treated these two like toys.

A distant chime resounded through

The distance just ahead,

And then some moments now elapsed

When something reared its head

Within the distant darkness just

Beyond the wall of sight;

A faceless head with tufts of hair

Gave both these boys a fright,

Making them jump and take steps back

And stifle back their screams.

It had to be a trick of light;

It had to be a dream.

Now both boys bolted back in terror,

Running the other way

Along the path where they had been

Talking themselves astray

Into the park when it got dark,

Whiling the minutes by—

Running their way towards the entrance,

Spending their strength thereby—

Panicking all the while they ran,

Wasting their breath away—

Running their way towards a trap

In headlong getaway—

Running until they saw and halted

Inside the gloomy park.

Something else was there ahead of them

Amidst the shadows dark.

Closer and closer did they come,

These fiends without their faces,

Until they saw their phantom shapes

Walking in shambling paces,

As if they were just strolling through

A sunny park in spring,

If only they had something else

Besides the grizzly thing

That hung about their faceless heads—

Two bloody nooses 'round

Their shriveled necks of skin and bone

That made a creaking sound

Whenever they turned 'round their heads.

Now both boys screamed in fright

And ran right off the lighted path

Into the wooded night.

And like two phantoms made of breath,

Both fiends now disappeared,

Two figments of imagination

Thought up by something weird—

Something far weirder than a clown

That kills without a knife—

Something far weirder than two fiends

That lived a faceless life—

Something both boys would have to face

Before this night is done—

Something that has the upper hand

On everyone—but one,

Whose name is Allison.

Part 2

Everyone that lives

Must someday have to die;

Fate never really gives

A damn for you or I!

1

Our Allison had dreamed a dream

About two stranded boys,

Running and screaming for their lives,

Making a lot of noise.

So when she woke, she found herself

Inside that very park,

Although she hadn't any clue

Why everything was dark.

You see, she took some medication

To quell the horrid dreams

Of those who die of fright at night,

Dying in all their screams,

Yet when she checked her cabinet,

She found there wasn't any;

And so she tossed and turned tonight

And heard those screams a-plenty.

She picked herself right off the ground

And thought she saw two fiends

That had no faces on their heads,

Two fiends that scared two friends

Right off into the darkened woods

That lined the darkened path;

The phantom fiends then disappeared

Before they faced her wrath.

And so she went right off the path

In search of those two boys,

Who ran into the wooded park

And made a lot of noise.

She called for them, although she did

Not know their names just yet;

She only knew that they were scared,

Which made her quite upset.

And so she stalked into the woods

To search the poor boys out;

She had to find them ere those fiends do

In this ungodly hideout.

For in her heart, a kind of thump

Resounded with a clang,

As if she stood beneath the bells

That ever coldly rang

The dreaded knell that tells the time

When someone somewhere dies;

Ah, such becomes the fugitive

When corpses shall arise

To trap the weary soul within

The confines of the park,

Wherein all screams will fade away

Unheeded in the dark.

And so she kept on looking for

Those fugitives a-missing,

When something sinister began

To rear its head a-hissing

A few feet just ahead of her,

Wrapping around a tree—

A giant centipede of such

Immense enormity

That Allison stood still in shock

To see it there at all;

It had large pinchers, legs and fangs,

All big enough to maul.

But then she saw some smaller ones,

Still bigger than her arms,

Come out from every hiding place,

Which caused her much alarm;

From trees and underneath the scrub

Came all these centipedes;

From hidden dens beneath the earth

They came in one stampede.

So in her hand appeared the blade,

The Vorpal blade of death;

She stood her guard and waited for

Th' attack with bated breath.

She'd slice them up if they came near

Enough to threaten her

With pinching legs and venomed fangs,

Should such a charge occur!

And yet, the smaller centipedes

Kept well off from her stance,

As if the big one warned them off

With barely but a glance,

Invisible as it may seem

As Allison could see;

But then the bigger centipede

Alighted from the tree

And lowered its enormous length

On pinchers to the ground,

Remaining there in silence as

She looked it all around.

Ah, not the least deterrence made he,

But kept obeisance there;

When Allison made not a move,

His voice came through the air

And said, "Fear not this centipede

With Vorpal blade in hand,

But trust me with your golden heart

And try to understand.

"I'm only but a messenger,

A guide to all lost souls;

There are two souls lost in these woods,

Two souls who are but fools."

Now Allison had dropped her guard

And listened to this spirit,

For this one had no trace of malice

Or foul intentions in it.

She said, "Do you know where they are,

Those two lost in these woods?"

The spirit said, "Indeed, I do,

As any spirit should,

"For in these woods lurks something vile,

A murderer whose kind

I've never yet beheld before

Or held inside my mind.

"He masquerades in many forms

To lure his victims in,

And sometimes alters space and time,

Or uses mannequins

"To scare his victims off the path

Towards his hidden lair,

Wherein he tends to taunt his victims

In one collective nightmare.

"And should you choose to go that route,

I'll take you there this minute,

But not inside that Borderland

Wherein he rules within it."

So said the giant centipede;

Now Allison had sense

To heed the spirit's warning thus,

Inquiring, "How long since

"Had he resided in these woods?

A week? A month? A year?"

The centipede replied in full,

"He came within our sphere

"Two months ago when all was dark

Before the blood moon broke

Over the trees, a ghastly sight,

Amidst a spectral smoke.

"Since then, a spectral haze would cloak

These woods at certain hours

When sleepless sleepers stayed awake

In fear of dreadful powers

"That lie beyond my spectral ken,

Beyond the sight of death;

All those who stayed awake by then

Would breathe their final breath

Upon this shibboleth:

"'Blasted is the day,

And blasted is the night;

Even though I pray,

Who will bring me light?

"'Everyone that lives

Must someday have to die;

Fate never really gives

A damn for you or I!'"

2

So spoke the centipede his warning,

A-waft upon the air;

Now Allison had better gist

Of what went on o'er there

Beyond the Borderlands whereon

This monster would extinguish

The lives of all the lost and lonely,

Who die in bitter anguish.

She felt a chill run up her spine

To heed that shibboleth,

As though it threw a subtle curse

Upon her fearful breath,

For she remembered in her dreams

Those very lines that stirred

The storms within her beating heart

Of hearts, as if each word

Caressed her to complacency,

Then turned her waking dreams

Into the stuff of nightmares filled

With many silent screams.

She shook it off the best she could

And recomposed herself,

Then gathered up the shreds of courage

Now scattered on the shelf

Of hasty misinterpretation

And niggardly assessment;

She climbed up on the centipede

And sat without a comment.

And then the giant centipede

Crawled quickly through the wood

O'er fallen trees and breaking twigs,

Much quicker than it should,

Forcing poor Allison to hug

Her straddling legs around

The bony undulating segments,

Bare feet above the ground.

And when she chanced to look around,

She saw the woods a-blur;

Each overhanging branch and log

Whizzed past her in a stir

Of roller-coaster jolts and turns

That wore her body out,

And yet she clung with hands and legs,

Her hair blown all about

Through stirring streams of nighttime air;

And Allison this way

Clung on for minutes at a time

Into the the crazy fray.

She clung and clung with all her strength,

Clung tight with gripping hands,

Until the centipede slowed down;

They've reached the Borderland,

Where stalked that entity of death

That lures lost souls away,

Where strayed those lost and weary youngsters

From the light of night and day.

No wind caressed her supple skin,

And yet a heaviness

Of air weighed down this Borderland

With something of distress,

The stress of souls and dark emotions

A-whirling through her spirit,

As if their screams churned up a sea

That ravaged her upon it.

She raised herself and saw the staircase,

A staircase in the woods,

So harmless anywhere but here

Wherein the object stood

Without a house attached to it—

Without a bannister

To grasp when one ascends the steps—

With nothing but a door

Upon that topmost landing where

It beckons one to come

And knock upon the knocker there,

Where all our nightmares come from.

After alighting from its back,

She said, "Is this the place?"

The centipede then said, "Indeed,

The house without a trace

"Of life within its walls of darkness,

Where nothing's as it seems;

Most humans can't go further hence,

Except inside their dreams.

"But you are different from the rest,

For you have walked the path

That leads through black infinity

From fearfulness to wrath."

Yet even with such words of courage

Filtering through her ears,

She felt a chill run up her spine,

Confirming all her fears;

She said, "I'm not sure what might happen

When I go up those stairs."

The centipede replied, "Ah, courage

Comes from the stew of fears,

"For only in the blackest night

Shall courage light its flame—

For only 'midst the storm of fear

Shall strength find its true name.

"Have courage, child, as you had once

When your own grandpa died;

He's watching over you right now—"

She turned and slowly eyed

The centipede before her there,

Then said, "Tell him I love him."

Then tears filled up her eyes, then trailed

Her cheeks in night's fair dim,

Whereat the centipede replied,

"He knows already, child."

And so her candled flame renewed,

Her courage undefiled—

And so she ventured t'wards the stairs

And climbed up all the steps,

Watching the door grow every closer,

Approaching dream-filled depths

Where something hidden from the mind

Holds sway on weaker souls;

She reached the landing, reached the door

Wherein lurked ghosts and ghouls,

Then crept towards the door to knock,

Then turned around and saw

That centipede had disappeared;

She turned around in awe.

She raised her hand to touch the knocker,

But paused before the knock;

The night was silent, chill and dead,

As if time stopped the clock—

The calm before the shock.

Part 3

Blasted is the day,

And blasted is the night;

Even though we pray,

Who will bring the light?

1

Metallic knocks shook through the dungeon

And woke both youngsters up;

They found themselves in man-sized cages,

A-hanging from the top

Of some abysmal underground

Where prisoners are kept—

Where teenagers have screamed in vain—

Where many children wept.

Ah, in this Hidden Realm of pain

Lie tortures manifold:

The heavy chains and manacles

(Feeling so metal-cold)

Kept both their arms and legs in place

That offered no succor,

Restricting movement to their cages,

Keeping them where they were.

So Ember said, "Are we now dead?

Or are we still alive?"

So Leer replied, "We have not died,

So we might still survive."

Then Ember, struggling in his cage

A-hanging from the ceiling,

Felt every motion of each sway

That sent his senses reeling

From side to side, a pendulum

Making him want to puke,

As though the world's gone topsy-turvy

And crazy like a kook.

So Ember said, "This motion sickness

Will be the death of me,

And more than that (and worst of all),

I really need to pee!"

"Then tinkle somewhere else," said Leer,

Averting from the view.

"For God's sake, not in front of me!"

So Ember took the cue.

He turned around, unzipped his fly,

And tinkled down the deep

Abyss that echoed back each drop,

As though aroused from sleep,

For in those depths lurked something there

Beyond his mortal ken,

Wherein a darkness more than night

Roused every now and then.

Yet for these two, they did not know

The peril they were in,

For they were sacrificial kids

Predestined to be eaten.

When Ember zipped his open fly,

He looked towards his friend

And said, "My God, what is this place?

Who sent us to this end?"

"Beats me," said Leer, who now stood up

And looked beyond the bars

Around their cavernous abode.

"I cannot see the stars,

"So we might be inside a dungeon

Or even underground.

Do you remember anything

When we were in the playground?"

"I do not know for sure," said Ember,

Wracking his weary brain.

"Those things with nooses 'round their necks,

They're all I ascertain.

"Can you remember anything

Beyond that wicked pair?

Can you remember what we did

Before we woke up here?"

And for a time, Leer wracked his brain

For something else he saw

Or did, but soon he shook his head.

"I can't. It's blah, blah, blah

"For me. I have no other clue,"

And then he banged his fist

Against the bars of his own cage,

For he was getting pissed

At something he had missed.

2

Now Allison, she thought she heard

The echo of a bang

Resounding somewhere far below,

Giving her heart a pang,

Of something she had never felt

And made her so surprised,

A sense of kindred helplessness

To courage galvanized.

The echoes ceased upon the threshold

Of half-heard silences,

And as she pushed the door aside,

She spied the differences

Between the chilly breeze outside

And the cozy warmth within,

Where someone said in stirring echoes,

"It's cold outside; come in!"

She ventured forth and let the door

Shut out the world of night,

Thudding against the stalwart jamb;

Now every hallway light

Lit up before her, one by one,

Beckoning her to follow;

And so she followed down the hall

Towards that haunted hollow

Where countless teens and children went

Before her. Then a thread

Of something cold ran up her spine.

"What is this place?" she said.

"This is a world of my creation,"

The voice replied again,

"For I have built a home of comfort

From a world of bitter pain,

"A world more fraught with agonies

Than you can understand."

So said the voice within the halls

Inside this Borderland.

But Alice, she was full of pluck

And walked ahead in thought,

Thinking about her grandpapa

Wherein her dreams she sought

The comfort of his final words:

"I'm always with you, child,

And always will forever stay

Within you reconciled."

Upon these words she often dwelled

To keep her spirits up,

And as she walked the winding length

Of hallway, she saw a cup

Sitting upon the floor before

Her feet. She crouched to grab

The vessel off the ground, when in

Her heart she felt a stab

Of panic flooding through her body;

She screamed an oath of doom,

But when she stood, she found herself

Inside a dining room.

A row of hanging chandeliers

Lit up the gloomy ceiling,

Casting dark shades and shadows there,

Sending her gaze a-reeling,

Until her sense of balance faltered

And felled her in a swoon,

Wherein she lingered for a spell

Ere waking to the tune

Of something sounding far away

And dissipating there;

She thought she heard a rattling cage,

Then turned her thoughts elsewhere.

She found herself upon a chair,

A-sitting like a princess

Dressed in a pinafore of white

Over a sky-blue dress.

Beside her was a table full

Of victual and drink

To quench her hunger and her thirst,

But all this made her think

About the words the centipede

Imparted ere departing:

Something about the day and night

Was creeping in and starting

To knock the doors of her queer heart

With ever-lurking terror;

She raised her gaze along the table

And spied the fiend in horror!

For there beyond the candelabra

Lighting the table 'tween them,

There in the flicker of its light

Lighting the gloom around them,

There in the chair with glass in hand

Was someone sitting, raising

His glass of human blood to her,

Saying the same odd phrasing,

"'Blasted is the day,

And blasted is the night;

Even though I pray,

Who will bring me light?

"'Everyone that lives

Must someday have to die;

Fate never really gives

A damn for you or I!'"

Now Allison, she gulped her qualms

And spied her ghastly host,

Noticing through his plasmic body

The substance of a ghost.

He had a top hat on his head

And wore a suit in white,

His eyes like lamplights made of fire

Shrouded in faceless night;

He took his glass and took a sip,

Relished the ghastly taste,

Then set his glass back on the table

And looked where fear had traced

The worry lines upon her face

And said, "It's rare to have

A visitor as young as you

To be so bold and brave,

"To venture to these hidden parts

Where not a soul before

Has dared to place a wayward foot

Beyond my entrance door.

"So I acknowledge you, fair knight!"

He raised his glass to her

Again as he had done before

And said, "Now let me enter-

Tain you with something truly grand,

A spectacle of wonder

Before your wayward-glancing eyes!"

And booming sounds of thunder

Rumbled the chamber all around them,

And lightning flashed the room,

And winds blew out the candlelights

And cast her world in gloom

Like the darkness of the tomb.

3

Now plunged into another swoon

That took her underground,

She oped her eyes into the chasm ****

Below her, where she found

The two lost boys in hanging cages,

A-hanging from long chains;

She had a God's-eye-view of them

And saw their dead remains.

Her astral body flew towards

These two unfortunates,

There skeletons encaged in death's

Repulsive shroud, their fates

Unknown to all but Allison,

Who saw in her mind's eye

The way they died their starving deaths,

Which made her question: "Why?"

And so her vision in her swoon

Began to dissipate

Into the stuff of all our nightmares,

The portents of our fate;

And now she found herself back here

Inside the dining room,

Finding her host approaching her

Wherein she sat in gloom;

And so she stood up from her chair

And stood her ground in fear,

Looking upon his face in shadow

With fiery eyes that leer

Upon the form of Allison,

Making her heart to quake;

She saw a boneyard in those eyes

With but a single look,

So she repeated her one question

And said unto this ghost,

"By God, hy must you be so cruel?

What is it that you've lost?"

"Because," he said, "the world's a cruel

And godless place of pain,

Wherein the only ones who rule

Are the ones that still remain

"Alive to kill before they're killed

By stronger enemies:

This is the reason why I'm here—

To stave off my demise

"By killing teens and children here

T' extend my very life,

Shedding the blood of those who wander

Here with this very knife!"

And suiting actions to his words,

He manifested there

Within his hand a vorpal blade

Making Allison stare

In shock upon another wielder

Of fate within his hand;

Now Allison knew why she felt

Such dread within this land,

For here within these walls of death

Resides her host in prison,

And such became her foolish quest

When corpses have arisen

To trap these weary souls within

The confines of this room,

Where teens' and children's screams fade out

Unheeded in this tomb!

Within her hand was manifest

The very vorpal blade

She used to free her grandpapa

From a ghastly soul-trade.

She stood her guard on tenuous feet,

Conscious of her own heart

Beating the tune of death against

Her ribs and said with a start,

"That monstrous self's not who you are!

You're just an innocent

Whose deeds have trapped you in this place,

But if you now repent—"

"Don't talk to me," he said in rage,

"Of such vain falsity,

For when I peered in that abyss,

Th' abyss peered back at me

"And found me guilty of these crimes

And took me over here;

I've shed more blood than you could know

And shed so many a tear

"That all of my compassion now

Lies dead within this place;

I'm dead to everyone I knew,

A fiend without a face!"

And with those words, he took his blade

And charged at Allison,

And swung his blade across her waist,

But ere the deed was done,

Our heroine had her own blade

And parried best she could,

Blocking th' attack with all her strength

And all her boiling blood!

And yet the force of his attack

Was much too great for her,

Sending her smashing 'gainst the wall

Amidst a ghastly stir

Of nightmares echoing inside

Her head like ringing bells,

Her mind a-stir with teens and children

Filling her ears with yells,

Till everything turned black as night

Like a swoon within a swoon,

Wherein was nought but starless sky

Behind a blood-red moon;

And here she stayed in dreamless sleep

With eyes of night, whose spell

Was cast upon her like the others

From out a common well,

Wherein the dead now dwell.

Part 4

He who fights with monsters might take care, lest he thereby become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

—Friedrich Nietzsche,

Beyond Good and Evil, Chapter IV: Maxims and Interludes, Aphorism 146

1

Ember and Leer sat petrified

Within their hanging cages,

For both of them had seen a ghost girl

Visiting from past ages,

As if to frighten them in their

Distressing circumstances;

And if she came to terrify them

With unforeseen advances,

Leer thought that maybe she knew where

He and his friend are at,

But fearful Ember had misgivings

And stayed silent as a cat,

And only gazed upon this specter

Before she disappeared

From view, and only then did he

Acknowledge such a weird

And eerie visitation. After

He found his wits again,

He said, "If that was an illusion,

Then maybe we're insane,

"And all this place around us is

Just a nightmare waiting

For both of us to wake up from

As we're here contemplating—"

"Enough!" Leer said, a-standing in

His cage. "We have t' accept

The fact that everything we've seen

Is real," and here he stepped

Towards the edge of his own cage

And looked around the cavern

(Looking below and looking up),

Then spied a glowing lantern

A-floating through the air before him,

Until it stopped just so,

And through its light there floated up

A chain from down below

That went its way towards the ceiling

Unseen above his head.

So stared and gaped the awestruck

With superstitious dread,

While Ember turned his gaze away

But looked on still, despite

The brilliance of the spectacle

A-blinding his own sight.

The lantern then transformed into

Another hanging cage,

Wherein there slept in deep repose

A girl about their age.

Then Ember said, a-pointing, "That's

The ghost girl we just saw!"

And Leer, he looked and saw her, too,

Gazing at her in awe.

Leer said, "Do you believe me now?"

And Ember said he did,

So Leer now said, "We have to wake her

And ask her where we're hid—"

"But do you think she knows," said Ember,

"Wherein this place we are?

And do you think she'll still remember

Her ghostly visit here?"

"I do not know for sure," Leer said,

"Until we wake her up."

And so they called and clapped their hands and

Rattled their jailbird setup

Into a noisy buildup.

2

When Allison roused from her sleep,

She woke to such a clamor

That she at first began to scream

And then to outright stammer

Such words of gibberish that she

Can't understand their meaning.

After a time, she rose and oped

Her eyes and rubbed them, gleaning

One glance towards the noisy source,

And found the two lost boys;

She said, "I thought you two were dead!

That bastard's ghastly ploys

"Have cheated me enough, and now

I'm here inside this horrid place!"

She looked again towards the boys

And sighed in her disgrace.

"Do you know where we are?" Leer said,

But Allison was mute

And only shook her head and said,

"Within a single minute,

"I would have gotten both of you

Out of this place if I

Knew exactly where we are right now

And how t' escape and fly."

But just as she had given up,

One of the boy then said,

"We saw you floating by our cages,

But I don't think you're dead."

Now Allison looked at that boy

Beyond her prison cell

And said, "When I had peered your

Your cages where you dwell,

"I only saw two skeletons

And though you both had died,

But that was just the bastard's spell!

God, why should he have lied?"

"Who is this 'bastard' that you speak of?"

Leer said; then Ember asked,

"When Leer and I were in the park,

Did he send out those masked

"A-shambling phantoms after us?

We took our wayward flight

Into the woods and got ourselves

Lost in our hast and fright."

She said, "I don't know who he is,

But he's much stronger than

I am and wields the blade I have

Far better than I can.

"And as for those two shambling things,

I saw them disappear

Just as you said, but I got lost

Along the way in fear . . . ."

And so she told them her adventure,

And both boys heard her out,

The listeners and storyteller

Linked in th' exchange throughout,

But when she neared her story's end

About her ghostly visit,

Our Allison cut off her words.

Then Ember said, "What is it?"

"We might be able to escape,"

She said after a time,

"But you two have to let me sleep

Upon it in the meantime,"

And with those words, she manifested

Her vorpal blade in hand

And swung with all her might across

The cage bars with a backhand

Swing and destroyed them right in front

Of both her watchers with

Their mouths agape in shock and awe,

Both witness to a myth

Becoming true before their eyes;

Now Allison, she laid

Herself down on her back and went

To sleep beside her blade.

Both boys then waited for a time,

Exchanging looks between them,

And saw the ghost of Allison

Rise up and reconvene them

By floating out across the span

Between her cage and theirs;

She floated to them, blade in hand,

Ignoring both their stares,

Then raised her blade across Leer's cage

And broke the bars away,

Then did the same for Ember who

Broke down in tears the way

A babe that doesn't see its mother

Cries out to reach her hand;

Our Allison reached out to him,

For she could understand

The plight of reaching for the grasp

Of a long-vanished parent,

And led both boys a-floating with her

Back to her cage. Apparent

Was the enchantment in their eyes

As both boys now beheld

Her spirit entering her body,

A sight unparalleled

In all their life, awake or dreaming;

And so they waited for her

To open up her eyes, awaiting

The tell-tale twinkle o'er her

Eyelids of sleep that bore her.

3

When Allison roused from her sleep

The second time, she said,

"You better not have kissed me, boys,

Or else you'll both be dead!"

Right then the blushing Leer and Ember

Backed off away from her,

Edging themselves against the bars

When she began to stir,

So Ember said, "We never did that!

I promise on my life!"

And Leer, he added, "Please, don't kill us,"

And looked upon her knife.

When Allison looked at those boys,

Both looking at her blade,

She said, "There is no need for killing,

So please don't be afraid,"

And up she rose upon her feet

And bade them to get up,

For they had better things to do

Than dwell on such a holdup;

So Leer and Ember rose and stood,

And to their own surprise,

They witnessed Allison dispel

Her blade before their eyes.

"I've entered here within a swoon,"

She said, "so this whole space

Must be a dream for dreamers who

Wander and lose their place;

"You've lost yourselves amongst the dead

Who've wandered here and died;

You've let those spirits lead you on,

So let me be your guide,"

And here she reached her hands to them,

And they both took each hand;

She said, "Take courage, both of you,

For I know not where we'll land;

"Just know that it's a falling dream

That gets us out of here;

Like Alice down the rabbit hole,

You've nothing left the fear,

"Except what you in your own minds

Create for your own selves,

For you know not that you are gods

Amidst mere shades and elves;

"In both of you's a knight at heart

That lies asleep, unseen,

But come with me, the both of you,

And you'll see what I mean."

And so they followed her example

And walked towards the brink,

The three of them now looking down,

And ere their second blink,

They all went down the sink!

4

So down and down and down they went

In free-fall like three stones,

Falling and falling till they landed

Inside a field of bones,

Where many teens and children there

Have died within their sleep,

Dying in nightmares manifold

In death's embracing reap.

And here they groaned on aching backs

And sides and necks and heads,

All three of them now waking up

From three revolting beds

Made from the bones of teens and children

That cut them on their landing;

Now picking themselves up, they saw

A lonely staircase standing

Forlorn above their heads like some

Sentinel of the grave,

When Allison discerned the place,

She had another brain wave

And said, "We have to keep on moving

Away from these odd parts,"

And here she led them both away

With beating heart of hearts

Beating with all the dread of death

Lurking with subtle creep,

For now's that time of night again

When all the world's asleep,

Except for two foul entities

A-shambling in the park,

Two fiends that Allison had glimpsed

But had Leer and Ember mark

The horrors they remembered well

When running for their lives;

But Allison, she said, "Take heart

And arm yourselves with knives!"

And here she stretched out her own hand

And formed her vorpal blade there,

So Leer and Ember followed suit

And in their fingers laid there

Not vorpal knives of steely metal

But pistols made to shoot;

She turned around and looked at them

And said, "Don't fire en route

"Haphazardly at all the shades

Within these woody parts,

For there are things that can't be killed

With your ballistic arts."

And so they walked on through the woods,

Two pistoleers and one

Girl with her vorpal blade aglow

Leading the way when someone

Or something up ahead of them

Caught all three by surprise:

It was the giant centipede

To Allison's dear eyes.

She said, "Is that you, Centipede,

A-lurking over there?"

And so the centipede replied,

"There's danger everywhere,

"Dear children! Follow all my kin

Away from these odd parts;

That godless man I told you of

Is trained in ghoulish arts,"

And with his words, a thousand smaller

Centipedes led the way,

Emerging from the grounds beneath

Their feet; so making headway,

The trio followed all these small ones

Beyond the wooded grounds

Into the open field wherein

A thousand cricket-sounds

Were chirping tunes that filled their ears,

Till all at once, they all

Fell silent on the dread approach

Of two fiends walking tall!

Before the boys ran off, she said,

"You stay yourselves and face

Your fears! We're in this for the fight

Within this godless place!"

The boys looked back at her in horror

And saw the worry lines

Tracing themselves upon her face

At something in the confines

Behind them on the pathway there

Within the blood moon's light.

"I'll keep him off as long's I can,"

She said, "but you must fight!

We all must fight tonight!"

5

Before another word was said,

The three took up their stances

And eyed their foes with desperate glares

Midst desperate circumstances.

While Allison kept watch upon

The unseen shade behind them,

Ember and Leer looked on in horror

At their two fiends assigned them,

For they had nooses 'round the necks

With lolling heads and eyes,

With gaping mouths that formed foul grins

And breathed out hideous cries;

Then those two fiends detached their heads

Off of their shoulders bare,

And 'round their necks their nooses twined

Like chains with balls that glare;

The boys' two shambling fiends took off

And charged the trembling group,

Swinging their heads over their bodies

From nooses in a loop,

So Leer and Ember aimed and fired

Rounds at the ghastly duo,

But when they split in shambling sprints

And charged the weary trio,

The two boys cursed and turned and ran,

Both running in defeat,

While Allison, she leaped and rolled

And wheeled upon her feet

With outstretched arm and hand and blade

And clave the fiends in two

In the middle of their bodies there,

Cutting through bone and sinew,

Till both of them fell down like trees

Within this silent park,

That's when the third fiend made his move,

Charging her in the dark,

Lunging with vorpal blade in hand

To stab her in the back;

Ere Allison had turned around

To see the sly attack,

Before the third fiend struck his blow

And murdered Allison,

Both Leer and Ember aimed their guns

And shot that shadow-spawn

In the middle of his shoulder blades,

Whereon he screamed in pain

And filed the night with horrid screeches—

Such was the bitter strain.

So Allison, she wheeled around

With blade arrayed for slaughter,

And charged him, cutting at the fiend

As if she cut through water,

But that third fiend just dissipated

And filled the night with laughter,

Then said, "Whoever fights with monsters

Becomes a monster after,

"For when you look into th' abyss,

Th' abyss looks into you!

And you, my dear, will turn a monster

Before your life is through!"

With all their strength to run and turn

And aim and shoot now low,

The boys now stared at her in awe;

Leer said, "We need to know—"

"What your name is," Ember continued,

"For we have never seen

Anyone move and strike like that

Outside the TV screen."

So just before the sun arose

Upon the east horizon,

She turned to both of them and said

(Before the night was done),

"My name is Allison."

FINISH